Imagine the 80s reaching out and giving you a warm, hard hug, and never letting go.

A 17/18 year-old teenage boy takes the reader through Ready PlayerImagine the 80s reaching out and giving you a warm, hard hug, and never letting go.

A 17/18 year-old teenage boy takes the reader through Ready Player One, from the slums of a dystopian future to the rich verdant expanse of OASIS, which is an impressively immersive multiplayer online simulation (imagine living a second life in World of Warcraft). Cline explores the consequences of a life that's made the transition from reality to digital, the sincerity of human relationships built through computer screens, and dives straight into the wonders and magic of living out fantasies you could only dream of.

Cline also does a great job of creating a futuristic yet nostalgic world, throwing in page after page of classic video game references, Tolkien, Star Wars, D&D, etc. While it sometimes feels a little ham-fisted and undermines the action at hand, it has a fun, playful charm that eases you into not taking the whole thing too seriously.

Only point I have to make: it's a great journey and universe to be a part of. All you have to do is sit through some cringey teenage dialogue and resist from putting the book down every time the boy says something unbelievably hokey or short-sighted....more

Diaz's characters are colorful and rich, and their distinct voices cut through their tribulations over a variety of topics like identity (racial and gDiaz's characters are colorful and rich, and their distinct voices cut through their tribulations over a variety of topics like identity (racial and gender), displacement, what it means to be an immigrant, and what it means to be Dominican. I don't think it's an overly ambitious novel - nothing like the books that are supposed to teach you about the universal truths of the world or impart a grand wisdom, but it's deeply personal. It takes you through Yunior's, the main character, life and infidelities, making only a brief stop to show us Yasmin, a Dominican woman living as "the other woman," which is an interesting mirror to Yunior's romantic experiences. You get to breathe in the dust of their exasperation and the lingering moments of their failed romances as they try to make it in world (the American world) that is so dark and isolating. It's a surprisingly desperate account. ...more